More pictures coming soon.

Our Newsletter is finally up and at more than 17 pages worth it is a chunk of reading, which means it was a chunk of writing and since Paul is an art major and dyslexic and a bit ADHD, please don't mind the errors:) but DO enjoy the adventures. We will have more pictures and postings up soon so stay in touch.

Blessings,

Hannah and Paul Messenger.

If you are wondering why it is HPMessenger and not PHMessenger, it is because Paul is gentleman;) and wanted to let Hannah be First!!

Happy holidays merry christmas and happy new year from the Messengers

Our abbreviated Newsletter.

The Adventures of Hannah and Paul Messenger: Our Newsletter 2009

This is the abbreviated version, if you want the whole thing then let us know or view it on the internet.

(which you are at right now, so just scroll down more and enjoy!)

As we have decided to take on life together we have found it essential that in our many adventures, trust is a resonating theme. We would like to take a moment to sincerely thank all of you who supported us through the summer and beyond; whether that be through: Feeding us, praying for us, giving us gas money, hugs, encouragement etc… We would also like to give a special thank you to Alan and Becky Pickrel for their willingness to let us live with them and for helping us get on our feet and pursue our callings, seriously without them I don’t know how we could have done this. We truly believe that it is because of the family and community that God has provided for us that we can be equipped and effective in pursuing Gods call on our lives, to love. On June 13^th 2009 Paul Graduated from Southern Oregon University’s Masters of Arts in Teaching program with an endorsement in teaching fine Art to high school and middle school children. And this event was the kick off to the many adventure’s of Hannah and Paul.

As we set out this summer we had and developed some strategic goals. One goal we felt was important was to let the joy of our marriage be a light of hope to the people that we worked with. We feel that we effectibly achived that goal and more with our time at Kidder Creek. We also had the privilege of volunteering with Royal Family Kids Camp, an organization that Paul has been working with for more than 7 years. The Mission of RFKC is to create positive memories for abused and neglected children ages 7-11, in a one-week camp experience. Together we believe that the Lord has used our hearts, time and words to etch loving memories in the lives of the awesome yet hurting children who attended.

We are not writing this to make our ego’s swell or to beg people for money, we just believe that there is something within both of us that has grown exponentially over the past few years and we believe that “something” can bring hope and joy to the others we encounter in the days and years to come. God’s provision has not once failed to prove itself to us since even before our marriage began. After spending a whole summer volunteering at youth summer camps, we needed some good camping gear. God knew this, and so we were rewarded for doing his work with a $1000.00 gift card to Sportsman’s Warehouse, which is great, but the best reward is being close to His heart; everything else just seems to fall into place.

For over four years now Paul has volunteered to mentor the youth at New Song church in Medford. While continuing to develop those relationships, on Friday nights, we find ourselves reaching local youth by serving with an event called ‘Ignite.’ In addition to Ignite we are also greatly involved with ‘The Revolution’ (a venue in Ashland). [the] Rev. has been a growing passion of ours for the past 3 years. We have become involved to the point now of being key members of it’s development into a potential full fledged business.

“I am in the process of achieving my bachelor’s degree in Business. I envision this degree to be a tool toward our shared passion for developing a ministry to communities and artists alike called the Warehouse.”- Hannah ‘The Warehouse’ will be: a creative furnace for youth of various backgrounds to be equipped with the tools and surrounded by community to pursue their passions, specifically music and the arts.

As we continue to pursue our passions and dreams we know that we will have to make sacrifices and that it wont all be fun and fancy free; but we look forward with hope that our lives have not and will not be in vain. In Matthew, God has revealed to us His truth and challenges us to trust Him with our lives. "Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?" Lastly we will continue to let trust be the overarching theme for us in this season of our lives and for the legacy that He has called us to. May you all be greatly blessed and encouraged as we continue to pursue our dreams with passion and love.

Trust 1.0

Trust: As we have decided to take on life together we have found it essential that in our many adventures, trust is a resonating theme. The first thing we would like to note is in the realm of trust, is the concept of “calling.” We have had a recent revelation about this, in that, we can look at countless examples in our created world where God has revealed is ability to guide his creation - let alone his children. The concept of innateness, or the innate ability for someone or something to complete a complex task with little or no training fascinates both Hannah and I and reveals to us that there is something inside of all of Gods creation that science cannot explain… yet cannot deny it’s existence. There is a force inside that provides us with the skills to pursue an internal need/passion. For Hannah and I in this past year, or so, we have strived to not only listen to and look for that force which propels us forward and wakes us up in the morning , but also we are learning to trust in it.

We can look back and see how, as we trusted the Lord’s leading we have been drawn to a variety of passions:

from youth ministry to preparing meals with good friends, creating art to collecting antiques, education to family, Africa, music etc… We will continue to step out in trust and see where what adventures the lord will lead us on next, but for now here is a recap of the ones we’ve been on so far!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts (not sure why the bottom though:)

Thank you: We would like to take a moment to sincerely thank all of you who supported us through the summer and beyond; whether that be through: Feeding us, praying for us, giving us gas money, hugs, encouragement etc… We would also like to give a special thank you to Alan and Becky Pickrel for being willing to let us live with you and for helping us get on our feet and pursue our callings, seriously without you I don’t know how we could have done this. We truly believe that it is because of the family and community that God has provided for us that we can be equipped and effective in pursuing Gods call on our lives, to love.*

*Disclaimer: If you don’t understand or believe in the “God factor” of our lives, that’s ok, we obviously still love you and thank you so much for your support and acceptance of what we believe in. Thank you for your enduring help and encouragement and may He reveal His love to you with grace and hope through our lives. It is never our heart or desire to force our beliefs on anyone, its just that we can’t help but talk about it.

I'z dun Graumated!

Graduation: On June 13^th 2009 Paul Graduated from Southern Oregon University’s Masters of Arts in Teaching program with an endorsement in teaching fine Art to high school and middle school children. He graduated magna cum laude and with high regard from his professors for being passionate and creative. After the reality of school finally being over, for Paul anyway, set in our summer was off and running with a explosion of joy and hope.

Camp (Kidder Creek)

Camp: As we set

out this summer we had and developed some strategic goals for our time. One goal that we felt was important, was to let the joy of our marriage be a light of hope to the people that we worked with.

Knowing that an average of more that half of American marriages end in divorce or have horrible relationships, we wanted (and want) our marriage to be a beacon of hope. Although we understand that we have only been married for a year, we also understand that Gods love is the foundation of our marriage and as long as we both stay rooted deep in his love we hope to lead a legacy for our generation that marriage can be an amazing adventure and not a burden.

Our main goal in camp ministry this year was; to bring kids into a new or deeper understanding of Gods love and desire to be their Father/brother/friend/ and especially savior. To bring them Joy, challenge them and equip them with tools to further develop their relationship with Christ. Although it is easy to get caught up in the hype and excitement of the camp atmosphere we wanted our campers to leave with something more than just having had fun. I didn’t realize just how well we had accomplished that goal until I received some letters from some campers who took the time to write Hannah and I and let us know what specifically changed in their lives from their time at camp. The response I will share is from a student that we worked with in the ECHO program at Kidder Creek which is designed to be the next step at camp for teens who were willing to not only have fun, but to also serve and grow deeper in relationship with God. I believe that this student’s response is clearly and accurately speaks to the amazing opportunity we had in letting God use us this summer to transform the lives of young people.

This letter below is a direct inscription of a students ability to reflect on his/her experience at camp.

“Camp has not been nearly as hilarious and monster ninja without you guys but has continued to be and incredible experience. I have been thinking about the whole molting process and growing/maturing as spiritual beings, (a message that Paul gave based on a vision of a bald eagles transformation process from adolescence to adulthood) and it has been something I have been wrestling with for a while now, but I finally feel like I‘ve discovered what has been holding me back. All this time I have been searching for what I needed to fix about myself or how I could make myself better. Finally I have come to the realization that all this weight I feel pulling me down is not the imperfect things about me I must remove, but my baggage has been my inability to accept that imperfection. Because I wanted to be perfect so bad and have been relying on my own strength, all my humanly imperfections have been amplified and prevented me from effectively doing God’s will. Hopefully now I can move on to what God has planned for me to the best of my ability and accept that it is not my place to be perfect, but Gods. I don’t believe I would have come to this place if it was not for you and I thank you and God so much for that.” – Anonymous.

Another key goal that we felt called to accomplish was; to be an encouragement and support for the counselors and staff that we worked with. Being a veteran of camp ministry Paul knows many of the challenges it provides and together we felt led to be more than co-workers with the young adults at the camps but also take them aside in times of need and support them.

Personally found great joy when we were able to pull a young man aside one day when he was at a breaking point in his personal life and let God use us to speak strength and hope into his life. Specifically, Paul felt led while praying for him to step behind him and prophetically pull out the spiritual “arrows” that were stuck in his back. Although he felt ridiculous at fist for doing this, while he was making this gesture, with her eyes closed, Hannah began to tell the young man that God had equipped him with armor to protect his heart from the arrows of the enemy! Simultaneously the other leader that was praying with us got a vision, also with her eyes closed, of him running into battle as a soldier in full armor. Not only was this experience a supernatural breakthrough for the young man, but it left us all with jaws slacked in awe of how God still, today, uses His people to speak His truth in love.

Mrs. Goria

Mrs. Goria: When Paul started attending College in Ashland it wasn’t more than a week before he met one of his “R.A.’s - Resident Assistants” an amazing, encouraging and passionate young man named Andrew Goria. (Now I know that the title of this chapter is MRS. Goria, don’t worry he didn’t get a sex change, just wait and it will all be explained) Andrew and Paul have shared many cherished memories over the past 4ish years. From being in a “metal-core” band together with their dear friend Mark Lubbers (now living in Ventura) to adopting Hannah as their “little sister,” working at the Revolution in Ashland and countless other endeavors and adventures. Andrew moved back to his home town, (Portland) shortly after graduating to pursue his calling to be a pastor and began attending seminary. So here is how this story goes from there: Andrew was Paul’s R.A. and then Paul was Hannah’s R.A. and then later Hannah became Karen-Rose Anderson’s R.A. and it was during the time that Hannah was an R.A. that a phone call was made that changed Andrew’s life forever. One night while Paul was visiting Hannah and Karen-Rose while doing some homework, his good friend Andrew called, but being overwhelmed with a pressing paper he handed the phone to Karen-Rose, whom Andrew had never met before, and more than a half an hour later they were still chatting, we knew something was up. Needless to say that little phone conversation led two little love birds down the road to marriage, a marriage that we were undoubtedly invited to this summer. On July 11^th 2009 Mrs. Karen-Rose Goria started a new chapter of her life in Wilsonville Oregon as an interim Pastors wife/ Nursing student and now the world is in big trouble in a good way.